Photo courtesy of “Lucha VaVoom”

In the midst of anticipation for the annual Chicago comedy takeover “TBS Presents Just For Laughs”, a new contender on the festival bill promises to entertain with much more than biting one-liners and ensemble sketch. “Lucha VaVoom”, thus far a budding underground success in both Los Angeles and New York City, boasts a delicate balance (is there any other sort?) between sultry burlesque and rock-’em sock-’em Mexican wrestling, complete with colorful capes and veiling masks. Karis, one of the headlining performers of the production, recently caught up with ShowBiz Chicago to discuss the inception of “Lucha VaVoom”, what the Windy City can expect from a night out, and why hula-hooping wasn’t exactly his first career choice. But it may have just proven to be the best one.

Interview by Alissa Norby

ShowBiz Chicago: Mexican wrestling and burlesque? Tell me about how “Lucha VaVoom” came to be.

Karis: The creators of “Lucha VaVoom” are Liz [Fairbairn] and Rita [D'Albert]. They both used to work on a show together. Liz used to make costumes for the show and was involved with burlesque. She actually started dating a Mexican wrestler and began taking people to see these kinds of shows. After a while Liz and Rita came up with the idea of putting this show together. It really came together quite well. I mean what else can you ask for besides sex and violence [laughs].

ShowBiz Chicago: For our first time readers, what can audiences expect from a night at “Lucha VaVoom”?

Karis: It truly is entertainment. It really gets you involved in what is happening. You can go to a lot of shows and feel very present, but with this all of the entertainers work to purposefully pull you in. We have everyone from wrestlers to dancers and they have been doing this for quite some time. All of the wrestlers are famous for their sport in Mexico. We all try to be at the top of our game for our audiences.

ShowBiz Chicago: How did you originally come to “Lucha VaVoom”?

Karis: When I started performing I was doing belly-dancing shows. A mutual acquaintance of Rita and mine told her that she should hire me. So I went and did show with Rita called “Bollywood”, and afterward she wanted me to started working with “Lucha VaVoom”. I went to the show and absolutely loved it, but I didn’t think I wanted to be part of the production. When it started though it was really where all of the artists in the industry went, because it was a bit underground in that sense. People would just go and let loose. It was a very straight crowd though. I was fairly new to dancing at that point and I didn’t want to throw myself out there. But I went ahead and tried it, and it went really well. I opened the Halloween show and I completely fell for it. I have been with the show for five years now.

ShowBiz Chicago: You specialize in dance, trapeze and hula- hoop performance. What is your background in these forms? Who were your artistic influences?

Photo courtesy of “Lucha VaVoom”

Karis: It was all a fluke. I did not grow up thinking that I was going to be hula-hooping for a living [laughs]. But I have been very blessed. I actually started with design, I had never done any kind of performance before. When I was in high school I was designing for artists like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot, Disturbed. It was so dark and I got really thrown into it a week after high school. After a year I was so burned out, I was getting about four hours of sleep each night. After that I took myself out and started hula-hooping as a way to relax, for something fun in my life. It just developed into what it is now. Someone saw me and put me in a show and it snowballed. Then I started performing trapeze and trained with a circus. It just took a life of its own. I never planned for this [laughs].

ShowBiz Chicago: You headline the burlesque component of the performance. How does the playful striptease work to complement the wrestling segments for the overall audience experience?

Karis: I really think that going back and forth between dancing and wrestling works more as a palate cleanser. If it were all wrestling it would be really boring, because you don’t want to sit through just two hours of wrestling or on the flip side, two hours of just dancing.

ShowBiz Chicago: The production has an interesting motto, “Sexo y Violencia”, Spanish for sex and violence. Why do you think this pairing continues to entice so many people, in all entertainment mediums?

Karis: I think that it is so primitive. You have two things here that have always attracted people to action, violence and sex. So these have always worked as main forms of entertainment because it touches on our instincts. But with “Lucha VaVoom”, it can be a wonderful experience because it isn’t sleazy or exploitative, it is playful.

ShowBiz Chicago: How do you perceive the importance of sexual fluidity and gender ambiguity in the production?

Karis: We really try and do a rough-and-roll show, where we do not apologize for it at all. But at the same time, it’s not so hit-you-over-the-head. I go out and do my gender-bending performance, but that isn’t my talent. I actually have one of those, or at least I hope I do [laughs].

ShowBiz Chicago: From campy masks to stage names, the concept of persona plays a big role in Lucha VaVoom. What is its significance to both you and the performance?

Karis: The guys that wrestle are more like superheroes. They all have capes and things, which makes it more of a fantasy which can be wonderful, because again it is about playing with the audience. I am Mexican so I grew up watching these people on television. So personally it takes me back to that time, and it is easy to recognize the importance of that kind of entertainment for people.

ShowBiz Chicago: We often hear that the audience is the final character, or player, in more eclectic performance pieces. How does audience interaction affect a night at “Lucha VaVoom”?

Karis: They are essential to the show because we need to feed off of the audience. The more they get into it, the better experience it is for everyone, because we give it our all. Our last show in Seattle I was so broken because I was just exhausted, but when I went out there and felt that energy, I just gave it my all and reached a new level. We want to include you in the experience. So in that sense the relationship between performers and audience is so important, it’s what makes the show wonderful.

“Lucha VaVoom” performs June 16, 2010 at the Park West Theatre in Chicago. For more information or to purchase tickets to this show and others appearing at the TBS Presents Just For Laughs festival, please visit www.JustForLaughsChicago.com.

Grammy-winning trio Lady Antebellum and a special guest appearance by Jerry Seinfeld are two of the latest additions to the lineup of specials being taped for TBS at the second-annual edition of TBS PRESENTS A “VERY FUNNY” FESTIVAL: JUST FOR LAUGHS this June in Chicago.  Three specials – Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special, Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus and Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live hosted by Andy Richter – are set to be taped at the Festival for premiere on TBS.  A fourth special for TBS, How to Build the Perfect Grown Up, is slated to be screened at the Festival prior to its on-air premiere.  TBS and Just For Laughs’ Festival in Chicago takes place Tuesday, June 14 – Saturday, June 19, with all four specials slated to premiere on TBS the following week.

Ellen DeGeneres is back by popular demand for Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special, her fourth spectacular variety special for TBS.  Packed with amazing music, magic and more, the show is slated to feature performances by Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum; top Australian magician James Galea, who combines illusions and comedy; the eye-popping, six-person team The Catwalk Acrobats, making their U.S. television debut; gymnast, acrobat and vertical-pole performer Dominic Lacasse, also known as The Flag Man; and the Japanese group Kabuki Expert, appearing in the U.S. for the first time to perform the viral-video sensation Matrix Ping Pong.

Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special will also include standup comedy and an audience Q&A session with Ellen.  DJ Nick Cannon will provide the beats for the production, which is scheduled to tape at the Chicago Theatre Wednesday, June 16, at 7:30 p.m. (CT).  The one-hour special will premiere Sunday, June 27, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special is being produced by Telepictures Productions, with Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin and Andy Lassner, whose credits include DeGeneres’ Emmy-winning talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, serving as executive producers. on TBS.

Cedric The Entertainer will preside as ringmaster over Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus, which will now feature Russell Peters, Sommore and JB Smoove.  In addition, the producers of the special are thrilled to announce that Jerry Seinfeld will make a special guest appearance on stage with Cedric The Entertainer in what is sure to be a show-stopping and hilarious segment.  The show will serve as a comedic journey through the influences that have transformed Cedric in to the king of comedy that he is today.  Included will be sketches, music and urban-influenced visual performances, all coming together to form a seamless, unexpected and hysterical evening of comedy.  Reginald T McCants, Chicago native and the musical director for Bernie Mac’s HBO series Midnight Mac, will be joining Cedric on stage as the show’s musical director and bandleader.  Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus will be produced by Just For Laughs TV, with Cedric The Entertainer and Eric Rhone serving as executive producers.  It is set to tape at the Chicago Theatre Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m. and premiere on TBS Wednesday, June 23, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

The newly announced How to Build the Perfect Grown Up special, which comes to TBS from Happy Madison Productions, celebrates the big-screen summer comedy Grown Ups.  Stars Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade and Rob Schneider will appear in the previously taped, one-hour special.  The comedy stars will trace their own lives and the evolution of their individual comic styles.  It includes an in-depth, laugh-filled discussion with the stars of Grown Ups, as well as comments, photos, film and video from family, friends and colleagues in the comedy industry.  The special will reveal what the guys were like when they were young, tracing the development of their “funny” from childhood to stardom.  It will include stories about how they got their starts in the industry, how they first met and how they have changed since becoming “grown-ups.”  How to Build the Perfect Grown Up is set for a sneak peek at the Festival.  It will premiere on TBS Thursday, June 24, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).  The movie debuts in theaters nationwide Friday, June 25.

As previously announced, Andy Richter, Reggie Watts and several of Conan O’Brien’s writers will team up for the one-hour special Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live hosted by Andy Richter.  This show has previously played to sold-out audiences in Los Angeles and is coming to Chicago for one night only.   Richter was O’Brien’s sidekick on Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993 to 2000, before venturing out to star in Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Andy Barker, P.I., and then returning to join O’Brien as announcer for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.  The evening will also feature the musical stylings of comedian Watts, who is opening for O’Brien on The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.  Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live hosted by Andy Richter will be taped at the Bank of America Theater on Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m. (CT), and premiere on TBS Sunday, June 27, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

Tickets for all Festival performances are available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 800/745-3000.  Tickets for Festival events will also be available at respective venue box offices.  A complete schedule of announced performances and other Festival information are available at http://www.justforlaughschicago.com.

About the Festival

Five nights.  Seventeen venues.  More than 100 comedians.  The laughter returns to Chicago this summer with the second annual edition of this week-long explosion of comedy, scheduled to take place Tuesday, June 15 – Saturday, June 19, 2010. Emmy®-winner Ellen DeGeneres will tape her fourth variety show for TBS, Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special.  Also taping for TBS, Cedric The Entertainer will host Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus, and Andy Richter and Reggie Watts will be among the talents as Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live hosted by Andy Richter.

Other Festival performers include comedy superstars Russell Peters, Denis Leary, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Tim Meadows, Adam Carolla, JB Smoove as his character Leon Black, Rob Corrdry and his new series Childrens Hospital and George Wendt, Tim Kazurinsky and other comedy greats from the Second City class of ’79.  Also on the roster is the wildly popular Lucha VaVOOM show.

The Festival once again brings together the unprecedented comedy forces of TBS and Montreal’s Just For Laughs.  Sites slated to be home to this year’s Festival include the Chicago Theatre, the Bank of America Theater, Rosemont Theatre, Park West, the Vic Theatre, Mayne Stage, Second City, The Red Bar Comedy Club and a roster of venues featuring grassroots programming.

For the Festival, TBS and Just For Laughs are also collaborating with the largest independent promoter in the United States, Chicago-based Jam Productions, LTD and Outback Concerts.

TBS and Just For Laughs have announced the lineup and airdate for a new TBS special that will be taped during the second-annual edition of TBS PRESENTS A “VERY FUNNY” FESTIVAL: JUST FOR LAUGHS this June in Chicago.

Andy Richter, Reggie Watts and several of Conan O’Brien’s writers will team up for the one-hour special Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live (working title).  This show has played to sold-out audiences in Los Angeles and is coming to Chicago for one night only.   Richter was O’Brien’s sidekick on Late Night with Conan O’Brien from 1993 to 2000, before venturing out to star in Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Andy Barker, P.I., and then returning to join O’Brien as announcer for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

The evening will also feature the musical stylings of comedian Watts, who is opening for O’Brien on The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.

The showcase will be taped at the Bank of America Theater on Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m. (CT), and premiere on TBS Sunday, June 27, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

In addition to Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live, TBS and Just for Laughs are also adding to the Festival’s impressive roster of grassroots performances.  Uncle’s Brother, a comedy trio comprising Tim Meadows, Joe Canale and Brad Morris, has been entertaining college and club audiences all over the United States and abroad with their unique blend of stand-up, improv and sketch.  They will perform at the Annoyance Theatre on Friday, June 18, at 10 p.m. (CT).  The opening act is the cast of the Annoyance Theatre’s hit sketch show, Swear Jar.  Meadows will also host the midnight Sketchubator at the end of Sketch-travaganza: The Best of Sketchfest at Studio BE on Friday, June 18.

In addition, the Festival will feature Drinking Buddies with Chicago prodigal son T.J. Miller at the Lincoln Lodge on Wednesday, June 16, at 9 p.m. (CT).  Miller and special guests Kyle Kinane, Mike Bridenstine and host James Fritz will be on hand for a night of loose, off-the-cuff comedy.  When the show concludes, attendees can stick around for a rare Midwest screening of the Sundance festival sensation Successful Alcoholics, a short film by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

T.J. Miller will also join the show for Chicago Underground Comedy presents: Secret Big-Time Local Comedy Showcase, taking place at the Beat Kitchen on Tuesday, June 15, at 8 p.m. (CT).

Tickets for Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live go on sale Friday, May 28, at 10 a.m. (CT).  Tickets available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com,by phone at 800/745-3000, Bank of America Theater Box Office and all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices.  Tickets for Uncle’s Brother and Drinking Buddies are on sale now and available at the respective venue box offices. A complete schedule of announced performances and other Festival information are available at www.justforlaughschicago.com.  Complete information on the newly announced shows is included at the bottom of this release.

About the Festival

Five nights.  Seventeen venues.  More than 100 comedians.  The laughter returns to Chicago this summer with the second annual edition of this week-long explosion of comedy, scheduled to take place Tuesday, June 15 – Saturday, June 19, 2010. Emmy^®-winner Ellen DeGeneres will tape her fourth variety show for TBS, Ellen’s Somewhat Special Special.  Also taping for TBS, Cedric The Entertainer will host Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus, and Andy Richter and Reggie Watts will be among the talents as Team Coco presents Conan’s Writers Live.  Other Festival performers include comedy superstars Russell Peters, Denis Leary, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Tim Meadows, Adam Carolla, JB Smoove as his character Leon Black, Rob Corrdry and his new series Childrens Hospital and George Wendt, Jim Belushi and other comedy greats from the Second City class of ’79.  Also on the roster is the wildly popular Lucha VaVOOM show.

The Festival once again brings together the unprecedented comedy forces of TBS and Montreal’s Just For Laughs.  The TBS specials featuring Ellen DeGeneres and Cedric The Entertainer will be taped at The Chicago Theatre.  Other sites slated to be home to this year’s Festival include Rosemont Theatre, Park West, the Vic Theatre, Mayne Stage, Second City, The Red Bar Comedy Club and a roster of venues featuring grassroots programming.

For the Festival, TBS and Just For Laughs are also collaborating with the largest independent promoter in the United States, Chicago-based Jam Productions, LTD and Outback Concerts.

Five nights.  Twelve venues.  More than 100 comedians.  The laughter is returning to Chicago this summer with the second annual edition of TBS PRESENTS A “VERY FUNNY” FESTIVAL: JUST FOR LAUGHS, scheduled to take place Tuesday, June 15 – Saturday, June 19, 2010.  Ellen DeGeneres, Cedric The Entertainer, Denis Leary, Russell Peters, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton and Aziz Ansari are among the extraordinary comic talents slated to appear.  Also on the roster are the wildly popular Lucha VaVOOM show and The Not Inappropriate Show, a sketch show for kids featuring Bob Odenkirk and some of LA’s hottest sketch performers.  The Festival once again brings together the unprecedented comedy forces of TBS and Montreal’s Just For Laughs.  Tickets for Festival performances will go on sale at 10 a.m. (CT) Monday, March 29, with additional programming to be announced soon.

TBS will give viewers around the country a chance to get in on the fun by presenting three television specials from the event. Leading the pack will be Ellen’s Somewhat Special, Emmy^®-winner Ellen DeGeneres’ fourth variety show for TBS, which will be taped Wednesday, June 16, at The Chicago Theatre.  Cedric The Entertainer will host Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus (working title), which will also tape at The Chicago Theatre Friday, June 18.  A third show being taped for TBS will be announced at a later date.

Denis Leary brings The Rescue Me Comedy Tour to The Chicago Theatre on Saturday, June 19.  Russell Peters’ The Green Card Tour is set for Saturday, June 19 at the Rosemont Theatre.  The Nasty Show hosted by Greg Giraldo with special guest Jim Norton is scheduled for two shows on Friday, June 18, at the Vic Theatre.  And Aziz Ansari’s The Dangerously Delicious Tour is set to perform at the Vic Theatre Thursday, June 17.

Wednesday, June 16, Park West joins the growing list of festival venues this year as it welcomes two performances of Lucha VaVOOM, an action-packed comedy and wrestling show with a touch of eye-popping burlesque and variety acts from around the globe.

Friday and Saturday afternoons, Mercury Theatre will host The Not Inappropriate Show, a sketch comedy show made especially for kids ages 6 and up, starring Bob Odenkirk, Kate Micucci and members of The Groundlings and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.

“Last year, we partnered with Just For Laughs to bring the biggest names in comedy to Chicago,” said Dennis Adamovich, senior vice president of brand and digital activation/general manager of festivals for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM).  “We’re honored to be returning for a second year as we bring together a wider variety of comedic talent from some of the top names in the business, along with fresh faces and truly one-of-a-kind performances.”

“We were thrilled with the response from Chicago comedy fans during the inaugural edition of the Festival last summer,” said Bruce Hills, chief operating officer of Just For Laughs.  “We’re looking forward to our second edition, which will again be filled with the world’s funniest comic stars, the best of the Chicago comedy scene and tons of surprises along the way.”

In addition to The Chicago Theatre, Rosemont Theatre, Park West, the Vic Theatre and Mercury Theatre, sites slated to be home to this year’s Festival include Lakeshore Theater and a roster of venues featuring grassroots programming to be announced later.

Last year’s edition of TBS PRESENTS A “VERY FUNNY” FESTIVAL: JUST FOR LAUGHS proved to be a landmark event for Chicago, which is home to a rich comedy heritage that includes an abundance of improv and sketch troupes and some of the most familiar names in the business.  Five nights of comedy – 67 different shows featuring more than 100 comedians – took place at various venues across the Chicago area, many of them selling out, including performances by DeGeneres, Bill Engvall, George Lopez (four shows), Jimmy Fallon, Jim Breuer and Danny Bhoy (two shows), Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, Andy Dick and Jim Jefferies.  Also selling out were The Nasty Show (two shows), An All-Star Comedy Show hosted by Russell Peters and more than 10 shows in the grassroots series, including Susan Messing and The Improvised Shakespeare Company